The Hidden Truth

In order to keep my spirit going, soon after I gave my first ice-breaker in the Toastmaster’s educational meeting, I did my second competent communicator task on the following meeting. Here is the script.

The Hidden Truth

I grow up watching Hong Kong TVB dramas. I have always been fascinated with the food, lifestyle and people in Hong Kong. It has always be one of my dreams to go and be there, Tsim Sha Tsui, Zhong Wan, Hong Kong, Macau. For your information, I speak Cantonese, and it was because I learned them from the TV, thanks to the Malay subtitles in the Malaysian television channels. I visited Hong Kong last week, and there are much that I discovered which are not shown in the TVB dramas or even my travel guidebooks.

First of all, I find out that not only Hollywood beautifies and creates the perfect males and females on the earth. So does Hong Kong TVB. When I was strolling the streets in Hong Kong, only one thing came to my mind, Taiwanese are much more fashionable than the Hongkies. I did see a lot of guys in their best suits, with shiny black leather shoes and some expensive branded watches. However, the ladies are not as fashionable as I thought. Or maybe I just ended up at the wrong venues. I have imagined that people there would be like those cut out to walk the red carpet all the time. Guess I was wrong.

Secondly, I discovered that food that are very appealing to the Hongkies may not be so to the others. Before my trip, I made a list of must-have food and beverages that I would like to sample based on my TVB experience and I basically plan my route according to the food list. I would tick them off one by one after sampling just so that I don’t miss out any. For the starter, stinky tofu kept me 5m away from the stall let alone sampling one. Next, roasted goose drumstick is priced at a rediculous RM36 each at a normal eatery stall. Finally, our Malaysian curry fishballs taste so much like real curry compared to curry that is not spicy in Hong Kong.

My another shocking discovery about Hong Kong is, if you think you can survive Hong Kong by being able to speak Cantonese, you are doomed. Like I’ve mentioned, I grow up watching TVB, I consider myself a fluent Cantonese speaker, at least in KL. With great aplomb, I set out to put my Cantonese to great use only to find that the Hongkies thought I’m from mainland China because I speak Cantonese just like them, with something amiss. A local can easily detect I don’t speak their Cantonese. I also discover that, Hongkies CAN speak English and Mandarin. Before my trip, I have always thought that they are monolingual.

All in all, this trip has shaken me up from my Hong Kong fantasy. There are a lot more hidden truth about Hong Kong that we can only discover when we are there, experiencing Hong Kong personally. What is portrayed in the show, is just a show. What we always see and perceive may not be reflecting what it really is. My conclusion to the trip is that, I would choose to read a traveller’s blog in the future for my trip reference rather than relying on guidebooks and movies. I would say that I am a little disappointed withthe trip, maybe because I set too high an expectation on Hong Kong. But overall it is still a pleasant trip.